Forever and Always
by AquilaTempestas
Summary: Sometimes a battle is won, but other times they are lost. For Diego, this was a battle he could not hope to win. [ORIGINALLY UPLOADED 2012]


_Sometimes a battle is won, but other times they are lost. For Diego, this was a battle he could not hope to win._

**.**

Diego dropped to his belly and nuzzled Shira's face. "Everything's going to be all right..." he said, tears slipping down his face.

His mate glanced up at him, forcing a soft smile. "...you're so optimistic..." She knew she was dead. She could feel her life force draining away, as death started to claim her. Weakness spread through her body, making the smallest action difficult. But still, she could smile for him.

He had been at her side all day and night, unable to gain a moment's rest. From the moment she injured herself, he was at her side tending to the wound hoping she would be saved, but he knew it as well as she did. There was no escape, not this time. He had seen how the boar had flung her through the air with its mighty tusks before driving its weapons into her hide. "I have to be for the sake of the cubs." Four cubs to be exact. Three males and a female.

Her body quivered. "They die with me."

He wanted to argue, to protest, and to believe his cubs would survive, but he knew they would not last another day. Newborn cubs relied on their mother for milk and if the mother couldn't provide, they would perish. He picked himself up from the snow and paced back and forth unable to sit still. He was at his wits end. "You're not going to die... I won't let you."

A dry laugh escaped her. "You've done enough for me... You've given me a home and a new chance at life."

"Don't give up hope, you still have much to live for." But even he could see there was no hope. Her wound was fatal; a deep cut through a major artery and a snapped bone. She would bleed to death or die of some vile disease.

"Stay with me until my last breath," she whispered.

He stopped pacing and dropped down next to her. "What am I going to do without you?"

She licked his face with her remaining strength placing a paw on his own. "Protect the herd, you need them." Without the herd, Diego would meet his death. It was a well-known fact sabres didn't survive alone.

"Not as much as I need you." He nuzzled her again, licking a salty tear from her sapphire eyes. It'd be the last time he'd lose himself within them and the thought cut through him like a knife. He never believed he'd fall in love; he believed he was a strong bachelor, but destiny had different plans for him. It was unfortunate fate stole her away from happiness.

"I'm sorry Diego..." she mumbled. "I wanted... I wanted to be strong for you... so you didn't see me as a weak female..."

He nuzzled her again, bringing her some comfort in her dying stages. "You aren't weak, you never were. You put yourself at risk to save us knowing what would happen." He licked a tear away from her eyes.

Another tear left her eyes. "...I'm sorry... so sorry for everything..."

"Stop apologizing, you don't need to," Diego replied, a tear leaving his own eyes. "You'll always be in my heart, Shira. I will never stop loving you, ever."

A soft smile crossed her face. "It makes me glad to hear that..." she said then cringed. "It hurts so much..." she added. With her remaining strength, she glanced down at the open cut on her left side. The boar had struck her hard and fast with its tusks. Blood poured out of the wound dying the snow a deep shade of red. Her time left on earth was fading quickly.

Diego wiped a tear away. "I wish I could do something to dull the pain."

"There's only one thing you can do," she replied, looking back up at him again.

"Anything."

"Kill me," she said through laboured breaths.

His eyes widened. "No."

"You must."

"I'm not going to have your blood on my hands."

"I do not want to suffer in this pain any longer, nor do I want you to suffer the torment of watching me die," Shira pleaded. "This is all I ask of you," she added, reaching out a paw to grab his paw. "Please, Diego."

He continued to watch her with mournful eyes before squeezing them shut and looking away. He debated with himself whether to do the deed but realized he must otherwise other predators would have her. Best to end her suffering now because watching her was painful enough. He turned his gaze back on her and nodded. "I'll love you forever and always, Shira." Opening his jaws, he lowered his head and grabbed her around the neck, as a stream of tears flowed.


End file.
